Adrienne Cousland
by Emii Fairhall
Summary: What happens after the Archdemon is defeated? Non-canon: Alistair is romanced, the Warden is female Human noble called Adrienne Cousland, and the two are engaged.


"Good morning, my queen." Alistair smiled as I opened my eyes.

My lips moved to mirror his. "And to you, my king."

"I still have to get used to that."

I nodded and stretched.

"Why are you calling me your queen? We're not married yet." I settled into his arms.

He laughed softly. "What, are you going to start being the nagging wife when we are? 'Alistair, don't slouch! You're a king, for Maker's sake! And quit sneaking off to those taverns! I can't do this all on my own, you know!'" I laughed at his impression.

"Maybe. What's the time?"

He shrugged. "Let's stay here. All day."

"Alistair, you know I want to. Wynne's expecting me for lunch and Zevran wants to talk to me about something today." I sighed into his chest, wishing I could agree and stay there forever.

He shook his head and moved me so he could look at me. "Wynne's been taking up too much of your time. She always gets in with something. I think it's a conspiracy to keep us apart." He grinned cheekily. "And Zevran...I never liked him."

"Liar. You're jealous because he flirts with everybody. You don't want him to think that there's any chance I'll ever sleep with him."

Alistair hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "You're right. I hate the idea of you sleeping with anyone else. I'm surprised you even convinced me to do...**that** with Morrigan."

"It kept both of us alive, didn't it?"

He nodded with a smile. "That it did, my dear. That it did." He kissed me on the forehead, alluding to his feelings. He was constantly afraid of losing me, especially with my decision to not be the stay-at-the-palace-queen. "I heard from Teagan that there's been a few sightings of Morrigan, or at least someone who looks like her.

"Who else could look like Morrigan, especially with Flemeth's nose?" I joked.

He laughed. "You heard that?"

"Of course. You know, those conversations you guys had when following me, they weren't exactly quiet. Besides, I like to know what my companions are talking about."

He narrowed his eyes. "That explains why sometimes you looked like you trying your very best not to burst into laughter."

"Right."

A knock at the door made us sit up, both reaching for our weapons by instinct. We looked at each other.

"It's your turn."

I rolled my eyes.

"When we have children, you're doing most of the work."

He laughed as I stood reluctantly, grabbing the sheet to wrap around myself. "Of course. It's not like I'll have a country to govern or something."

I opened the door slightly, allowing Alistair time to cover himself.

"Eamon, nice to see you." I put on a polite smile for Alistair's uncle.

Eamon nodded, glancing down at me. "I see neither of you remembered."

I opened the door for him to see Alistair as he stood. "Remembered what?" Alistair looked at him blankly.

Eamon sighed. He was an older man, still getting older, and reminded me of Duncan with his beard. "Today's the day I officially abdicate in favour of Teagan. There's a ceremony that both of you are to attend."

Alistair swore. "I completely forgot. I'm so sorry, Eamon."

I looked at him. "I told you we couldn't stay in bed all day."

He made a face at me.

We both looked back at Eamon. He sighed. "Your private lives aside, please get dressed. And Alistair, I will need to speak with you before long. It's about Kirkwall."

"Kirkwall? Isn't that in the Free Marches?" I asked, confused.

We heard a thud as Alistair hopped to the bathroom.

"I'm alright! I'm alright!"

Eamon smiled and shook his head. "Yes, it is. Many Fereldans fled there when the Blight began. Apparently their Circle and their templars are having some difficulties with blood mages and apostates at the moment. Knight-Commander Meredith is requesting assistance."

"But she's always made it a point that Kirkwall stands on its own, and so should Fereldan."

Alistair limped out of the bathroom, fully dressed. "Of course. But now that we are, she's hoping to take advantage of the situation and the inexperienced king."

"Adrienne, the Antivan elf is down in the hall. He threatens to create scenes if you don't see him soon." Eamon never liked many of my companions during the Blight, but he tolerated them because of the service they provided in saving Fereldan.

I laughed. "Zevran's harmless. If Oghren threatened that, I'd be worried. But all the same, if it eases your mind, I'll go as soon as I'm dressed."

"Thank you, Adrienne. Alistair?" Eamon moved, hoping Alistair would leave.

Alistair shook his head. "I'll be down in a minute with Adrienne, Eamon."

Eamon sighed. "Very well. Although, how you're going to get along without me, I'll never know."

"We'll visit you in Redcliffe just so you can boss us around," Alistair called after him before shutting the door.

I grabbed a ceremony-worthy dress, but something that was easy to fight in if I had to and changed quickly. Before I followed Alistair out, I grabbed an enchanted dagger.

"You never change, do you my love?"

I shook my head, smiling as he took my hand. "Never. You never know when you'll have to fight."

"I'm glad kings are warriors, so I always have an excuse to carry my sword."

I smiled at him. "Alistair, I believe Duncan would be so very proud of you, if he could see you now."

He looked at me. "Really? Do you think so?"

"I do."

A roguish grin spread across his face. "Remember those words."

"Always."

We walked into the hall together, hand-in-hand. As much as we would have preferred to stay together, Alistair was swept away by Eamon and Teagan, while I had to talk with Zevran. Luckily, Wynne was there as well. I approached her quickly.

"Wynne, I'm sorry, I won't be able to make lunch today. Tomorrow?"

She smiled. "Adrienne, don't worry about it. I asked you to lunch today to see if you remembered the ceremony today."

I laughed. "Wynne, don't ever leave."

"Never."

I turned away briefly and Zevran stood before me.

"Finally. Adrienne, we need to converse."

I sighed. "Eamon said you were threatening to make a scene."

"Well, yes. This is urgent."

"You're not going to ask if we need anyone killed again, are you?" I grinned.

He shook his head, no trace of his usual impish grin. "Follow me."

He turned without waiting for me to acknowledge and walked through a side door. I frowned and glanced at Alistair. He was speaking with Eamon and Teagan. Somehow, Fergus had found time to get away from Highever and was speaking with Alistair as well. Alistair glanced around and looked at me. I gestured at the door Zevran had disappeared through and he nodded. He said something to the men and walked over to me.

"What's going on?"

I shrugged. "Zevran's acting weird. He said it's urgent."

"Did he say both of us?"

"No, but I thought if it was important, you should be there too."

He nodded. "Right."

He followed me through the door and Zevran was pacing along a short hallway. He turned as soon as he heard us. He looked a little surprised at Alistair, but said nothing.

"What is it, Zevran? I've never seen you like this. And you've had a lot of experiences that would send a normal person nutty."

Alistair gave a smile, but Zevran just nodded. "Um…I have to…"

"Zevran, spit it out already!"

He stopped and looked at me. "The Crows asked me to take on one more job in exchange for my being free of them. Completely free, as in they'll never send a note, let alone more assassins."

"That's great. I mean, isn't it? The Crows have been hounding you since they heard you were in Denerim." Alistair glanced at me, completely missing the reason why Zevran was acting so strange.

I looked at Zevran. "They asked you to kill someone you don't want to, didn't they?"

"Well, who could that be? I mean, Loghain hired them to kill us and he's dead. Who could they want dead now?" Alistair was still oblivious.

I shook my head. "Zevran?"

Zevran sighed. "Marjolaine took out a contract with the Crows on Leliana. Since I'm already here and can get close to her, they gave it to me."

I could see his problem now. Since the Archdemon was vanquished, and even a little before that, Zevran and Leliana had developed a cute relationship. He wouldn't want to kill her, but he could finally be free of the Crows if he did. Assuming the Crows would stay true to their word.

"Maker, I'm so sorry, Zevran." I wanted to comfort him, but didn't dare touch him, in case Alistair was still very jealous, or if someone saw.

Alistair nodded in agreement. "Wait!" He looked at Zevran and I suddenly with his 'I've-got-an-idea' expression.

"What's your idea?" I asked.

He grinned, seeming very proud of himself. "Zevran, whisk Leliana away on a romantic trip, like a honeymoon, just without the wedding. Adrienne and I can send the Crows and their minions signs that you went some other place. It's romantic, AND it clears your problem. Ooh, or we could fake your deaths!"

"What about when they don't find me in the some other place? Or if they find out Leliana and I didn't die? I appreciate the gesture, but I won't live on the run. And I won't make Leliana do the same." Zevran shook his head.

I nodded in agreement to Alistair anyway. "Zevran, go to Kirkwall with Leliana. You could…get a job or something. Just lay low. Assuming the Crows will withdraw any assassins if the person who paid them to kill the target is dead or withdraws their contract, you wouldn't have to be on the run for long. Just long enough for me to…**persuade** Marjolaine to drop the contract on Leliana."

"I love the way you think, Adrienne." Zevran smiled.

Seeing Alistair's reaction to what he saw behind Zevran's smile, I subtly pulled Alistair's arm around me.

"So, you'll do it?" I asked.

Zevran sighed. "What if Leliana wants to kill Marjolaine herself?"

"Well…would Marjolaine have to physically see the Crows to get them to kill Leliana?" I replied.

He nodded. "But in the time it took the Crows to send this my way, she could have gone back to Orlais."

"I won't risk Leliana going back to Orlais. Maker knows who else there wants to kill her. I'll have to take care of it." I stood slightly taller.

Alistair nodded. "You mean, **we**'ll take care of it."

I looked at him. "Alistair, you're the king. You have to stay. You can't go gallivanting off to Orlais whenever you feel like it."

"Excuse me, but you're my future queen and my fiancée. Besides, you want me to sit here, knitting and worrying about you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, what will Eamon and Teagan say?"

"Who cares? I'm the king. I get to make my decisions." Alistair showed his confident side, the one that showed whenever Duncan praised him, or when I did.

He could see his arguments were working. I groaned.

"Curse you and your logical arguments." I leaned over and kissed him.

"Excuse me, but I know I've said I've seen it before, but please, I'm about to have dinner. Besides, that's the sort of thing you're supposed to leave behind many, many, many closed doors." Zevran grinned and walked away.

I looked back at Alistair. "Eamon's going to have a fit. You saw him when we told him we forgot about the ceremony today. And it's Teagan's first…it's the day before Teagan's first day on the job."

"Right, right. So, we'll tell them the day **after** tomorrow. Easier done than said."


End file.
